Half breed
by romulus95
Summary: Tired of loss of precious lives the xenomorphs on an unnamed planet decided to experiment and found a way to blend in.
1. Chapter 1

Prolog

The sound of claws quickly clicking on metal grates echoed behind him closer and closer they came faster and faster. The kid turned a corner only to find himself in a collapsed section of the facility the kid turned to run but found three domed heads staring back at him. Three sets of mouths hissing and drooling at him. The creatures slowly crawled to him hoping to entice a scream or cry for help. But non came the child balled up his fists and waited. The creatures stopped confused at this preys reaction.

'This one will please the mother well.' One hissed to its companions the others hissed their approval.

'But what of Sleesh. He'll wish to feed on him.'

'He doesn't have to know until the queen has made her desires known.'

"Hey! You blind fuckers are you going to kill me or what." The prey demanded still standing waiting ready for a fight.

'Yes he'll do' All three said together.

Before the kid had time to react the creatures pounced on him at once and knocked him out dragging him to their hive.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter I

The kid woke up in a room dark and endless. Drips where echoing along with the constant hiss. Only this time it sounded big. For the first time since the whole ordeal started the kid was scared. Another sound caught attention this one sounded slimy and wet. A few seconds later something grabbed onto his face and shoved two veiny tubes down his throat. The kid fought pulled and tugged against the face-hugger only to feel it tighten its grip. A large object worked its way down the kids throat inside one of the tubes it slowly squeezed its way into his body. The kid grabbed the tail that had wrapped around his neck and began to pull at its base. It's finger like appendages tightened on the kids head but started to get pulled off. The human cried as the appendages tore grooves of skin off of his head, slowly the face-hugger was pried from the humans head leaving only the tubes that where down his throat. The large lump had left the tubes and was now inside of him and yet the face-hugger still struggled to get back on the human.

The human pulled the tubes out of his throat and started to stumble around due to loss of blood until finally he collapsed on the hard resin floor hearing his heart beat quicken to compensate for the blood loss. Before passing out the human saw two pairs of black legs coming towards him and reaching down for him.

'Yes, he did well.' The queen said pleased at the humans tenacity and unwillingness to give up like the others. 'Little one do not come from this body be with it share it. I may have use for it later.' The queen instructed the embryo just as she instructed its layer to give up after a while once the human refused to die peacefully. 'Searnîsh.' The queen called out throughout the hive for her youngest drone. Immediately looked upon the one she'd called. 'I want you to take care of this human he will be the first of many.' She gestured to the unconscious human in the grip of two warriors. It was obvious the everyone that the drone did not like her new assignment but accepted it without complaint.

Motioning for the Warriors to follow her she led them to a secluded part of the nest where the unwanted and disliked stayed away from those that find it sporting to brawl with them just because they could.

'Leave it there. I'll take it from here.' She said watching the Warriors set the human down and leave quickly. The drone groaned as she looked at her new job a filthy human. What did she do to get the queen mad? Or worse what didn't she do. She picked up the human and carried him off to her refuge away from disapproving gazes. After a few minutes of crawling and climbing she'd finally made it to her home.

She put the human off to one side and started putting items she had collected up. As she quickly stashed away items that were forbidden to have in the hive the human let out a groan and moved a little before he started to shiver. The drone strafed to panic only seeing her kind do this before dying. Thinking desperately on what to do she curled herself around him almost protectively. And watched as the human slowly stopped shivering and scooted closer to her now sleeping.

'I'm not your mother you putrid thing.' She thought discussed at the thought of this thing wanting to be so close to her.

'He doesn't mean anything by it.' A voice replied causing her to jump away from the human.

'Who's there?' The xenomorph demanded looking all around afraid that one of the others saw her collection of human items.

'As far as I know it's just you me and the one who's body I'm sharing.' The voice replied patiently.

The human groaned as he rolled in his sleep searching for a comfortable position to sleep in. The xenomorph crept back towards him and looked at his wounds on his head they were already healing leaving thin scars on the sides of his head.

'Will be understand me?' She asked hopefully.

'I'll be sure to teach him our language while he sleeps.' The voice said after a moments silence.

'What do I call you?'

'Call him Max. I will not exist to him till the time is right.'

'Max.' Searnîsh said thoughtfully. 'It's getting late and I need to get some sleep. Goodnight.'

'Goodnight.' The nameless voice replied before falling silent.

Searnîsh laid herself down next to Max and quickly fell asleep but remained alert through the rest of the night.

Max felt something cold and moist laying against him forcing him to open his eyes. He started to panic when he noticed it was a xenomorph. The creature curled itself tighter and growled in annoyance at the noise.

'Quiet down human. You're loud enough to wake the elderly.' A feminine voice said grouchily.

"Who was that?!" Max asked standing up quickly and looking around for the source of the voice but only found himself looking at random items from blankets to war medals in their display cases still. "What in the hell is this?"

'To answer your questions I the only other one visibly here is talking to you and as for what all of this. I collect things from the life outside the hive.' The voice said as the xenomorph gave up on sleeping and got up looking at Max stretching like a feline finishing with its tail uncurling and snapping straight striking the wall with a dull thud.

'What did it mean by the only one visible.' Max wondered then started feeling something new at the back of his mind. It felt foreignand also a part of him.

'Well I guess theirs no point in hiding till later. You really know how to bring up to him SLOWLY don't you.' A voice said in his head but it wasn't like hearing the feminine's voice it was apart of him not separate like hers. 'Now then Max before you start freaking out I-'

"What the FUCK! What's wrong with me. What did you do to me?" Max yelled holding his head his finger automatically lining up with the grooves on his head from the face-hugger. Then it all came flooding back to him. He immediately started to any moment his chest would be ripped apart.

'No if that was the case you wouldn't be living with Searnîsh you'd be up on a wall feeling me break through your ribs and watch me take my first breath as you take your last. The queen has something special planed for us. So don't fret over little things like what ifs and why nots.' The voice said flatly and annoyed by the quick but harsh truth of what should be happening to him.

'He obviously doesn't understand I'll leave you two to talk about it.' Searnîsh said but froze in mid step as a growl came from Max's general direction. 'How dare you think that I'm your property. What in the last ten minutes makes you think that I belong to you.' She hissed snapping her second jaw out at him.

"It wasn't me. Well it kind of was but it was my stomach it has been a long time since I've eaten anything." Max said fearing for his life again.

Searnîsh's attitude changed almost immediately. She'd never seen humans eat before so she never thought that they did. Just the hers also growled at the thought of food and that let loose a stream of broken hissing.

'Is is she laughing?' Max thought, finding it very strange that a creature that kills so brutally could have a side that was so human for a inhuman creature to do.

Searnîsh stopped her laughter and started to leave only stopping at the entrance to look back at Max 'Are you coming?'

"Out there? Won't I get attacked." He asked stepping further back till he ran into the wall.

'They won't attack you.' Both the voice and Searnîsh replied. She walked towards him arms harmlessly held out and her tail low to the ground trying to show as little signs of aggression as possible. 'If you want to eat I suggest you come with me. Don't worry I won't let anything happen to you.' She reassured him surprised by her words only a few hours ago she wanted him dead and gone but now she was curious as to what he was capable of.

The two left Searnîsh's home and started heading out of the hive. The journey was uneventful xenomorphs that that they passed by stared at them sending confused questions only to be quieted by Searnîsh's warnings. When they left the hive Max took the lead and headed towards his old home.

'Eh the air stinks up here now.' Max thought holding a hand to his nose.

'The queens experiment has not only given me a body but also has shared our senses and knowledge.' The voice said flashing images of the queens of old all the way back to the first one.

'I wonder.' Max thought mischievously before running at a wall and jumping at it. He didn't get far before smacking his head on the pipes in the ceiling that normally wouldn't be a problem, Max fell and landed hard on the floor grate. With a groan he got up and felt his head. Besides a dull throbbing there wasn't much damage done to him.

'If it's climbing you want I would suggest that you let me do it not you.' The voice chuckled at his poor attempt to climb on the walls.

"What do you mean let you do it." Max said before feeling his hands go numb and heard his bones crack and pop. "Well that's...different."

'Don't fight it. It makes it harder for me to confine it only to our hands. You can still control them as you wish just don't do anything to idiotic.'

Searnîsh walked up to Max and watched his fingers lengthen and get closer together mirroring her hands. Only white and not black. 'How interesting.' She said helping him to his feet. 'Alright I'm going to teach you how to climb like one of us.'

With that the two clambered onto the wall and crawled about quickly traversing through the once successful mining facilities know in this part of the quadrant. Soon the two found themselves coming to where Max had taken refuge for so long he felt strange coming back.

Dropping to the floor his hands quickly shifted back into human hands and he walked up to the door and unlocked it from a scan of his hand. As the door opened the smells of his storage of food hit his nose like a sledgehammer and he immediately followed it straight to the source. A container of dehydrated meat strips, the very sight of them brought out the ravenous hunger in him and he ripped the container open and started diving in not even slowing down to use his hands just use his mouth like an animal throwing strips up in the air and catching them before chewing for a little bit before swallowing. By the time he had his fill a third of the contain was either in his stomach on his face or scattered around the area.

"Sorry about that would you like some?" Max asked wiping the remains of his meal off of his face. Scooting the remaining meat towards Searnîsh.

'No thank you it doesn't smell natural.' She politely passed the offer by.

'Sure as hell didn't taste natural either.' Max's other half pointed out in almost discuss.

All of a sudden a voice called out to Max the voice was as gentle as the breeze that flowed down the valley outside the compound. 'Young one come to me we must talk.' The alien side of Max's consensus was automatically drawn to the voice almost taking control of his body forcing him to return to the hive.

'Let him guid you to the queen I still have yet to hunt. We'll met again don't worry Max.' Searnîsh said feeling hopeful that she would see him again.

With that the two parted Max heading to the hive once again. This time as he walked through the hive passing multiple passageways full of hanging corpses and xenomorphs Max started to feel at home. Maybe it was his other side that made him feel this way maybe the way he was treated so far or maybe being alone and always looking over his shoulder for the past six months had caused him to find comradely in the one thing that had haunted his every waking hour. As he made his way farther back into the hive the more face-hugger pods he saw, thankfully none of them opened but he could feel each one waiting. Max continued till he reached a large chamber filled with pods. But what got his attention was the large xenomorph laying them she watched him slowly walk towards her.

'Little one.' The queen said happily lowering her head as low as it could to look right at him.

'Mother, you summoned me.' The voice said forcing Max's body into a bow.

'How are you both doing?' The queen asked bringing Max into the conversation.

"A little nervous." Max said feeling a little light headed he wished Searnîsh was here to help him.

'Fine. Just wondering what you wish to speak to us about.'

The queen chuckled at that and straightened to a standing position but still kept herself attached to the pod layer and looked don at him. 'I wish to speak with you two about keeping your kind away from the hive, by any means.'

"It's been six months I doubt that anyone even from the corporation would waste their time coming here after so long." Max said knowing that no one cared enough to send help the last twenty times he tried to send out a distress signal. That was when he found out that the people here didn't matter to the corporation that they didn't care to send any help once they reported missing personal and when they started finding the pods that's when all communications ended with the outside world.

'You will be able to get back at them for leaving you here like this. We may have been the ones to take your loved ones away from you but they are the ones that brought you here in the first place.' The queen said feeling Max's anger well up inside of him, that's when he noticed that the alien side of him was quiet almost like he was never there.

'I have something to show you. I hope it will bring some peace to your troubled mind.' The voice sadly before revealing memories of one of the first offspring that was recently brought in.

"Hold him still. The cooperation wants this thing unharmed." A man in a clinical uniform said as a android roughly grabbed the chest-burster from a corpse. As the android sealed in a container it twisted bring the human into view it was his mother that it came from. The memory faded and Max found himself on his knees crying his fist clenched.

"Their responsible for all of this. They must pay for what they did. I swear I will make them pay." Max looked at the queen and smiled as he remembered the other colonies on the planet. "We're going to need a bigger home."

'I can help you get the vengeance your family deserves.' The voice said letting an image of a white xenomorph rip a man in half flash in Max's mind.

"Then I will need to call you something, won't I."

The was silent going through the memories of Max and his ancestors, till he stopped on a name from ancient times. 'Damocles, call me Damocles.'

End of chapter I


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter II

It was now winter, cold, harsh and relentless to most living things. Max and Damocles were the only things that stalked the winter landscape for food and host for the hive. The two had gotten to know some of their limits but were always test the boundaries and their resolves. Being the only white xenomorph in the hive it was easy to collect any prey during the day or night.

'We should get something to guard the entrance better than those brutes.' Damocles said referring to the eight xenomorphs they had hidden near the entrance of the old compound.

'That maybe try but it's hard to find anything with good enough qualities to harvest.' Max replied as they laid waiting for a napis to come by and drink the water from a nearby stream. After a few more minutes of waiting a pack came by and started to drink leaving one for a lookout.

The napis was the closest thing to a wolf on this planet that Max had seen. It's fur was as white as the snow around it. Its three heads searched for any prey to hunt its six legs impatiently lifted and settled back down in the snow. After a moment or two it caught the scent of something close and bared its teeth letting the rest of the pack know with a growl.

'Now.' Max commanded sending a swarm of face-huggers jumped out of the snow and attached themselves to the napis implanting embryos in them. When the pack laid still Max called the rest of his hunting party to quickly gather their new project.

'Well that was easy.' Damocles said watching the last of the pack get carried away.

'Too easy. One of them acted like something else was out here.' Max pointed out as he turned around and looked out at the horizon and saw nothing but a blizzard coming. 'We should head inside before the storm hits Searnîsh will start to worry.' Damocles agreed and they headed back inside the hive.

As soon they left the cold Damocles eased his hold on the his hold on the body and allowed it to return to human form leaving them both bare to the chilled underground air of the hive. Max made his way to pile of clothes shivering as a gust came in from the approaching storm.

"We need to figure out a way to change and change back with my clothes still on. I'm getting tired of having to come back cold and naked." Max said pull a shirt over his scared body from the countless fights with the wild life outside of the hive.

'I'll never get tired of seeing it though.' Searnîsh said sneaking behind him pulling him in a hug wrapping her tail around them both. Max smiled at her antics and rested his head on her should for a little bit before continuing getting dressed. 'You two always ruin the fun.'

'Well humans do get cold you know. No matter what is in their blood.' Damocles pointed out allowing Max to break free of their lovers embrace.

"How many does that make now?" Max asked Searnîsh planting a light kiss on her hard exterior.

'Twenty napis. And our first ones came out while you were gone.' She motioned with her right hand for something to come out of hiding. Shortly after the sounds of multiple claws echoed in the darkness of the hive and a three headed xenomorph came into being its thought chaotic and animalistic compared to normal xenomorphs it came up all three heads growling and snarling at them until Searnîsh laid her hand on one of its heads then it's thought became collective and controlled. The heads stopped snarling and growling and the tail started to whip around aimlessly and almost harmlessly throwing the spearlike tip around. When she removed her hand Max expected it to go savage again but instead it stayed tame and stayed close to her.

'We found that once you've touched one it will listen to you and you alone.' She said giving each head a scratch under the chin. 'Even Alpha was pleased with the turn out of this experiment. He has taken two for himself but I've kept one aside for you.'

"Thank you." Max said giving Searnîsh a proper kiss on the lips before leaving to get some much needed rest, after he hunted down his own three headed xenomorph.

'Half-blood!' An all too familiar voice shouted from farther up the hive tunnel it belonged to Alpha the biggest male in the hive and the one that like him the least. Not long after his nickname was said two three headed xenomorphs came running out of the darkness and blocked his way out of there. 'I have to admit this idea of yours was worth putting up with. But that doesn't change my opinion of you as a disgrace to this hive.' Alpha stepped out his midnight skin covered in scares from many duels to get his position and keep it. His right hand was missing his middle two fingers giving him the classical alien look his dome head was lined with multiple scares.

"It's nice to know that you approve of it. And it's also nice to know that you've a liking to it as well." Max said looking over his shoulder at the xenomorphs hissing at him daring him to try something.

'Oh I think this belongs to you.' Alpha said throwing a bleeding xenomorph it's three heads all had cuts and was bleeding profusely as was its body. With that Alpha motioned for his own xenomorphs to follow and left.

'Of course we're stuck with the dying and broken one.' Damocles complained as Max knelt next to it causing it to cower and let out a pathetic hiss.

"Broken has many meanings and this one shows none of them." Max replied picking up the xenomorph not caring about his clothes any more allowing the acidic blood melt them away. By the time he made it back to Searnîsh's home his clothes were in tatters and the xenomorph was asleep in his arms its bleeding stopped and its wounds were slowly healing.

When Searnîsh saw state his appearance she rushed up to him looking for any injuries on him. 'Alpha did this to you didn't he.' She accused the Alpha of putting him down like this again after all he had done for the hive.

Max smile and laid the three headed xenomorph down gently before answering. "No, but he was so nice enough to bring my runner to me."

That still didn't calm Searnîsh down any. 'You need to challenge him.'

"No. What will it prove if I challenge him? That I want power? Respect? No I don't want any of those I want peace between us and right now that doesn't seem to be any closer now than when I first met his acquaintance." Max said scratching his runners heads lightly slightly disturbing its slumber.

'Well he did give us a compliment about the runners.' Damocles piped in bringing Searnîsh's attitude towards Alpha down a bit.

'Well it's a start.' She grumbled allowing the conversation to end there.

Max removed the remains of his clothes and looked for new ones to replace them, after digging around Max found a pair of pants that he had fashioned from the hide of Kati. Its firm thick hide made a windbreaker its fur was soft against his bear skin making him relax more to the point of wariness.

'I don't know why but every time you put this on I get so tired. I hate it.' Damocles said as he too felt Max's wariness rub off on him.

'I'll let you two boys get some sleep then.' Searnîsh said keeping her sadness unknown to them both.

Max closed his eyes feeling Searnîsh lay next to him before falling into a dreamless sleep.

Searnîsh laid awake for some time wondering how to tell them that they needed to leave the hive even though the queen knew of her condition and was happy for them it just wasn't natural to have a rival queen in the same hive she thought of waking them and telling them but thought against it knowing that the two needed their rest more than anything, this last hunt took four weeks for them to do four weeks for her to notice the first of the changes. Four weeks to feel the new generation coming, although their births won't be normal by any means she knew as did the queen that she will soon take the appearance and responsibilities of a queen and need to make her own hive.

'Do not fret child I will not kick out.' The queen told her easing her worried thoughts a little.

Finally her conciseness started to slip as she drifted into slumber next her lovers. No her mates she could now think them as such without wondering what anyone else would say about it.

The next day Max started scouting the nearby colonies looking for any weaknesses in the perimeter. The storm hadn't let up making it almost impossible to see, but thanks to Damocles's sight he was able see the heart beats and heat signatures of everything within a few hundred yards.

'They got snipers. Colonial marines, they make good warriors.' Damocles noted after seeing how those standing inside the shelters on top of the wall stood trained and ready for anything even in this weather. 'How easy do you think it will be. To get in and take it.'

"Too many to deal with now but...maybe if we started tearing them apart from the inside we might be able to watch it collapse at our feet." Max replied watching for a few more hours noting the watch turnover times how quickly it was done who stayed behind a little longer.

'What are you boys hunting now?' Searnîsh asked crawling up to her mates causing them to look at her in shock as her black contrast stood out even in this blizzard that hit the night before.

Soon the alarms were going off and a sniper shot slammed into the snow next to Searnîsh making her jump and hiss at the spot then at the shooter.

"RUN!" Max yelled giving her a forceful but worried shove in the direction further into the storm.

The two ran in the storm as more and more shots where fired slowly getting closer and closer until on hit Searnîsh in the back of the head. The force of the shot ripping through her head sent her sprawling to the ground her body convulsed as her mind died leaving Max and Damocles feeling the bullet tear through their own head from their connection with Searnîsh.

"NO! I'll kill you. I KILL YOU ALL!" Max cried out before turning towards the colony and approaching lights as squads were sent out to confirm the hit.

'We need to return to the hive.' Damocles said in pain surprised at Max's reaction to something like this the two had seen and dealt death to humans and animals alike.

"No the deserve to die. Like animals." Max said sounding more like an animal himself.

The lights were closer and Max started to run at them his white hide his him from sight but not the trackers.

"Hold up I got something coming this way. It's fast, Gomez you got anything?" A marine asked as he stopped running and quickly scanned the area with his eyes but saw nothing.

"Negative nothing but snow. Wait is that a-"

The sounds of a shrill and enraged scream cut the marine off and the sound of flesh being ripped filled the others ears. One by one the marines died at the hands of some unseen monster till only one remained and he started to run back to the safety of the colony.

The marine just started to make the outline of the colony before he felt talons rip through his legs and lower back sending him flying to the ground and crippled, the marine whimpered and started to crawl in the direction of his home before something grabbed him and dragged him back.

"Where do you think your going." An unnatural voice asked as the marine was turned till he saw his pursuer a white xenomorph stained in the blood of his fellow marines its mouth baring its teeth. "You've taken the last bit of happiness I had now you will know my pain." With that the xenomorph brought its tail to its arm and pierced its skin enough to get some blood on it and Drew an "X" over the marines heart and watched as it quickly ate through his armor and started going into his chest. The marines screams was music to Max's ears as he watched the acid eat the marines chest in half sending his lower half to the ground. Max threw the upper half to the side and continued to the colony.

The alarms in the colony were still going off and all of the defense lights were on the top of the wall was filled with marines looking for the reason for the alarms. After awhile the marines started to lose their sense of urgency and treated it as if it was a drill pointless and repudiative. As the marines started to leave to go back to their beds and stations a woman's scream cut through the the night.

By morning the colony was silent the storm had passed revealing homes broken into blood splattered the walls children laid slaughtered amongst the elderly marines piled in the very center of the colony with one at the top impaled in a metal beam its head had a fist size through her head. Max still as a xenomorph stumbled out of the colony blood frozen to his body, looking for his dead love now buried in the snow. Once finding the spot he began to dig until he found her corpse he picked her up gently and started to journey back to the hive.

'What did you do.' Damocles asked knowing quite well what had happened.

"There is a reason why I never fought for power it would end up the same way. Now shut up and let's get back to the queen." Max snapped silencing the alien inside of him.

As they entered the hive Alpha was the first to greet them in his normal way. 'Well look at the hal-' he was stopped short not just by the way Max hissed at him but also by his blood covered appearance and by what he carried the corpse of his love. Alpha immediately ran up a head clearing a path directly to the queen keeping any hive members he came across to stay out of the way for Max.

When Max reached the queen she let out a screech of pure sorrow as she saw the lifeless corpse of one of her children. Then saw how Max looked blood now starting to thaw and drip from him and onto the ground of her chamber.

'Did they suffer Damocles?' She asked but got no respond from him.

"Yes they did." Max answered letting the sound of dripping blood fill the void between them for a moment. "My queen I will be leaving there's no reason for me to stay and I'm no longer in control of myself I will need to go somewhere we're can't harm anyone."

The queen tried to reason with him but stopped when it was clear that he wasn't going to change his mind. 'She never got to tell you that you were going to be her alpha.' The queen said sadly to Max's back as he walked out leaving everything he had grown to love after so long of fearing and hating behind he left it all.

For once as he walked the winter landscape he wasn't cold he didn't feel anything anymore he was hollow, dead to all things that made him human still.

'Where are we going?' Damocles asked quietly which brought Max out of his brooding and thoughts of how he could've saved her.

"We're heading off planet. To a place where only those that deserve our punishment go. We're heading, to earth." Max said as the colony he had just wiped out came into view.

Max searched through the blood covered homes in search for clothes and money. Once he found enough to get him just about anywhere and anything he through the marine weapons scattered under the snow. The sniper rifle that killed his beloved was not a normal but a custom made one that collapsed making for easy storage stuffing that and a handful of amo Max picked up a pulse rifle and amo for it and kept going to the nearest spaceport on the planet. Max didn't forget Damocles's promise of revenge on the one that sent him and his human family to die here he was going after Weyland he was the enemy and he was going to die with a sniper round through his skull.

Meanwhile on earth...

"Mr. Weyland, sir we have reports of another colony going dark after what seemed to be reports of a white xenomorph." An android said reading from its holopad of reports from colonies around the galaxy.

"A white one you say. How interesting, I wonder has something new been made." Weyland said to himself as he mulled the information over and over in his mind. "This might be worth investigating send in a detachment to the colony and see if the reports are true."

"As you wish sir."the android replied already making the orders for the nearest cruiser to head for the outer rim of the galaxy.

'Nothing will stop me from taking what is mine.' Weyland thought as he brought up the list of colonists from that sector looking for anything out of the familiar nothing popped out the majority were already dead. Swearing Weyland slammed his hands on the table and looked out his massive window overlooking the city.

End of chapter II


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter III

It had been two weeks since Max left the hive, he found a cargo frigate that was heading towards earth and after paying the pilot a nice sum of money he was his way. The crew on the frigate were on edge as if they had cargo on board that was illegal but Max could care less smugglers weren't unheard of what ever their cargo was it would make no difference in his mind on how he saw any human now. As food.

'They really don't want us here.' Damocles said as they passed a group of men eying them weighing the benefits of attempting to jump someone with a hefty bag of cash.

Max waited to get to his room before answering but as he was about to open his door he heard a child scream from the captain's room. "Quiet you bitch." The captain ordered another loud smack and cry from his room was heard the smell of fear and lust was thick in the confined space of the vessel, Max forgot completely about not caring and turned into the xenomorph and opened the door. The sight that met his gaze was that of a little girl tied up naked and the captain getting ready to have his way with her.

Max let out a hiss that revealed a hidden hatred for humans that natural xenomorphs couldn't compete with. The captain slowly turned around and saw with fear in his eyes. "SHIT!" Was all the captain could say before max sent him flying into the wall knocking the wind out of him.

As the captain was able to breath properly Max had already flipped him on his back and drove his tail through his stomach looping it around his intestines and pulled them out piling them on the floor before him, the captains screams were music to him but Max wasn't done yet he reached into his chest making him scream again sending blood out of his mouth, when Max removed his hand from his chest he held the mans heart still beating. The captain looked up at the white domed head of the xenomorph trying to cry for help before dying.

"And they call me a monster." Max said his voice was more like a growl but understandable.

"Who's there?" The girl called out unable to see anything from where she was tied down at.

Max turned his attention to her and found a blanket from the bed nearby, after laying the blanket on her he went to work on her bonds. "I'm just a friend, I won't hurt you. Hold still the bonds are already cutting into your wrists." Once the last one was cut the girl got up and wrapped herself with the blanket quickly looking around trying to find the one who saved her, it was then Max noticed that she was blind.

"Where are you I need help. I have to go." She said holding one hand out searching for him. Max started to back away but Damocles decided to take control this time.

'You have to learn to trust again. She needs someone and we'll be there for her either you like it or not.' Before Max could respond a hand fell on his bony arm.

The feeling of something innocently holding onto him the way she did caused him to freeze not knowing what to do.

"There you are. Come on I have to go bad." She said jumping in place leaving Max out of options.

After a few minutes looking around he finally found the bathroom and led the girl to the toilet and started to leave her. "No don't leave. I don't want to be alone anymore." The girl said reaching out for his hand.

"I will give you some privacy. Just knock on something and I'll get you." With that Max left her to do her business.

'She's not so bad. She needs someone and so do you.' Damocles said being almost caring which was out of character but lately their personalities seemed to have switched.

"Are you getting attached? Did you forget what happened last time we got attached to something." Max said viciously. "Because I haven't." Before Damocles could answer the door to the room opened and two crew members stopped dead in their tracks as they saw their captain's corpse and a white xenomorph leaning up against the wall arms crossed and tail twitching as if it was waiting for them and was getting impatient about it.

"Shit we got ourselves a bug issue." One joked while the other started to piss himself he must had a run in with a hive. "Time to exterminate." The guy kept joking pulling out a pistol while the other one tripped over his own feet trying to walk out and smacked his head off of the door.

Before the joker could even point the gun at Max his hands vanished before his eyes leaving only bloody stubs. The man looked at the xenomorph as it spat out his hands and gun. Just as the man was about to scream as launched his tail into the mans chest pinning him to the wall. The pisser was up by now and started to hit the alarm but felt something wrap around his feet and pull them out from under him. Max brought the mans face up to his and opened his mouth showing him his second mouth opening and launching itself through the mans face and out of the other side. Three down eight more to go, Max tallied just before a frenzy of knocks came from the bathroom.

"You still think she's fine to have around this is your first day with her just wait till she gets use to us." Max muttered as he opened the door and gingerly picked up the girl startling her.

"No! Not you too!"she quickly covered herself more tightly with the blanket and started to squirm trying to get away.

"Stop! I'm trying to get you someplace safe from them." Max growled threateningly stopping the little girl from struggling anymore.

They quickly made it to Max's room he set her down and pushed her towards his closet. Pushing the girl down he closed the doors behinds him and left locking the door to his room. Once he was happy with the locked door he quickly jumped up onto the ceiling and broke a vent guard so he could climb in.

'Max what are you doing now. I know for a fact neither of us fans fly let alone land this thing when the time comes.' Damocles tried to reason with Max as he started hunting down the remaining crew members.

"Shut up unlike xenomorphs humans don't have morals like they used to, what this crew is doing to that poor girl is equivalent to you screwing a face-hugger. It's not supposed to happen it's against the laws of nature and the lowest thing a person can do." Max let that sink in as he crept along looking for more blood to spill.

They found a couple making their way hand in hand to a room lust was heavy in the air it the room they went into contained another life source it wasn't human but something that made Damocles angry just by sensing it. Max continued in the vent until he was in the same room as the couple who were already undressed and caressing themselves kissing and groping to the fullest. Max looked around for the other life form and saw it chained its dreadlocks barely covered its bare chest with its large breast letting all who saw it that it was a female.

'Hunter.' Damocles spat out the word flashing old memories of its kind hunting his kind for sport and rituals.

"Where is the child." The hunter demanded in broken almost childlike english tugging the chains taunt trying to get at the couple who ignored her presence and started getting in the heat of their passion.

"Oh Kelly take me here in front of this beast put on a show for this toy of ours." The man said as he was playfully pushed onto the floor and mounted by the woman.

Max didn't want to stay and watch the hormones we're playing with his own sanity as he picked up the faintest urges from the room below. Breaking the vent down next to the couple Max dropped down and pierced the woman through the chest with is tail staining it crimson once more and slamming it down on the man pinning him to the floor with a look of fear and pain as he felt his life leave him. The rapid clicking of mandibles and the struggle against the chains caught Max's attention. The hunter was trying to get free and get a weapon of any kind. Max stood up pulling his tail free and held up his hands innocently trying to show no signs of aggression.

"Are you talking of a child with no sight." Max asked walking slowly to the hunter hands still up.

The hunter froze at this trophies attitude and question. "If you put one of those foul things on her I swear I will-"

"First off I'm here alone as far as I can tell and second." Max said turning back into a human for the hunter to ease up. "Your in no position to try and make threats." He looked around for anything to help him focus away from her nakedness he found a towel that seemed big enough. "Here cover yourself." He said throwing it at her.

"Do I look...how would Sinthia put it." The Hunter thought wrapping herself up in the towel as well as she could as she fought the chains some. "Does my appearance displease you? Not that I'm not pleased about the modesty you've given me. But how is this possible I've killed many of both of your kinds but never had we encountered anything like you."

Max searched the clothes that the couple tossed to the side but didn't find a key. Max exhaled and rubbed his head knowing what he had to do. He made his way to the Hunter looking at her in the eyes.

"They didn't have the key on them." Max paused not liking what needed to happen.

"Their captain has it." The Hunter said still struggling against the chains hoping to slip one of her hands out.

"I'll be back and I'll bring the little one as well." With that Max turned into a xenomorph and climbed back through the vent leaving the Hunter alone.

'Why did you help her you've seen what they do to our kind.' Damocles said still holding nothing but hatred for the Hunters kind.

"She watches over the little one and so mustn't be harmed do you understand." Max said waiting for an argument. "You said you wanted the little one around well if you want her then you'll need the Hunter around as well." Max ended the argument before it started dropping into the captain's room searching around for the key.

After a few minutes Max found it and started towards his room to collect the girl. As Max did his short trip to his room through the vent he heard alarms going off.

"Ventilation activity detected."

'Shit ground for now on.' Max thought as he dropped into his room just before the ventilation sealed itself off severing one of his finger tips causing some acidic blood to shoot out. Max let out a pained screech and looked for anything to slow the bleeding. As Max dug around for his supply of medical supplies that he took from a Weyland medical facility that studied xenomorphs he heard a cry of fright from his closet and remembered the little girl. Once he found it he wrapped up his damaged finger and opened his closet.

"It's time to go." He told the little girl. "Your friend is waiting." With that he held out his hand to touch the little girls and allowed hers to wrap around his and led her to the room with the Hunter.

"I heard one of them." The little girl said quietly squeezing my hand harder than expected from a girl her size. "Did you see it?"

"Them?" Max asked opening the door to the room with the Hunter.

"A big scary black animal. No eyes, tail and burning blood."

"Sinthia." The Hunter said happily as the girl came into her view.

When the little girl heard her name and her guardian she started to tug on Max's grip trying to get to the Hunter. Max put the key in the girls hand and let her go the short distance to her.

"Terra." The little girl ran into her guardians embrace weeping.

"There there everything is alright now." Terra calmed the child down by stroking her head.

"Listen not meaning to spoil this wonderful moment you two are having but people are coming and I'd like to set up a warm welcome for them." Max said smiling and letting out a malicious hiss leave his lips. Causing the little girl to cower further into Terra's arms, Max tossed the key to Terra and pointed towards another room. "Go hide I'll see to it that they come after me."

Terra unshackled herself and picked up the child and left the room closing the door behind them. Max started the painstaking job of dragging bodies into the hall and started to stick them to the wall with his saliva that he spat out watching it harden before leaving the corpses to be viewed by the rest of the crew.

'What are you trying to get out of them? Fear, panic, what was the point.' Damocles asked feeling Max drift further and further into rage for his own kind.

"A message. Hopefully they don't listen to it. There's always one that does." Max said crouching in a doorway waiting, his mind flashed with images of those put I charge of his care and used him to get free money and pleasure for themselves.

"The captain isn't answering our calls, think one got him?" A voice asked worried.

"Nah the cap'n been doing this for 'while. Ain't nothin' gonna-" the other stopped in mid sentence as they came in view of Max's gift to them.

'Are we going to let them go?' Damocles asked.

"Since when did you stop wanting to hunt." Max said still waiting.

'Since SHE died because of it.'

Max was caught off guard by that, dispite the fact that Damocles and he shared many things Max had shut him out of almost everything nowadays, only relived the last moment with Searnîsh over and over again feeling the pain that they shared before he slaughtered the colony.

"Shit already been hung ta dry. We gotta layer on board?" One asked his voice quivering with fear the sound of blood dripping on the hard metal floor was heard as the two refused to move.

A peeping was heard bringing the two back into reality. "I've got movement two sources over here in this room."

When Max heard this he ran from his hiding spot and tackled one of the crew members and started to rip his skin from his spine till it was bare and ripped it out, his screams of pain stunned the other crew member causing him to stand in terror as he watched a white xenomorph walk towards him with his friends spine in his hand. Leaving his friend a bloody mess on the floor.

Max grabbed the man by the neck and raised him up to eye level with his domed head. "Where is the hunter's gear." The only response he got was the man screaming and babbled about his ability to talk.

"Well." Max said as the screams died down and he grew impatient snapping his jaws out at the guy.

"In the hangar with her ship and and the others like you are there in cages as well." The man quickly spilled as he pissed himself as Max hissed at the acted.

Max tossed him at the wall knocking him out and walked into the room holding the Hunter and girl. "You can come out now."

The two came out of hiding the Hunter kept the girl's eyes covered at the first sign of violence she held the little human like it was her own.

"I found out where your gear is. It's in th-" a shot rang out ripping through Max's side causing him to screech in pain and turn around at the one he threw off to the side Max scurried from side to side closing in on the crew member and started to rip him apart letting his blood melt through him. When the man was dead Max was starting to feel light headed but he stood and looked at the other two. "Go. I'll catch up I need to get somethings."

Max went into his room leaving a trail of acidic blood all the way to his supplies. He picked up a large bandage and started to wrap his wound up stemming the blood flow. Max then went about finishing collecting his belongings before leaving. As Max walked through the hallways towards the hangar he felt a familiar presence trying to get inside his head. 'Could that be our runner?' Damocles asked and as both he and Max thought of the three headed animal the presence made it inside of his mind and showed him where he was.

Max went to the hangar and started hunting down the three headed xenomorph. Max walked past many cages filled with xenomorphs who eyed him and asked to be released, but these Max knew were not from his hive and were not friendly to him. As Max looked he felt the presence get stronger until he found it clawing at on of its walls trying desperately to get out.

"And Searnîsh said you'd listen to what was told to you. Now look where you're at." Max smiled and opened the door and started his way to other part of the hangar. Max's runner wasn't too far behind him each head hissing at the xenomorphs that became enraged as they saw Max leave with impure breed and not them.

As Max made it to the other side of hangar he could see Terra in her armor about to cloak but stopped when she saw him coming.

"Sinthia was getting worried about you. Let's get out of here." She said turning around and running towards her ship.

"There are more on board we need to deal with them they won't be as kind as my hive was to me when they are out."

Terra nodded and started pushing buttons on her wrist again and took the device off and threw it and motioned for Max and the xenomorph to board quickly.

The ship started to leave the floor before the ramp was even closed. Before long they were off of the smugglers vessel and in open space.

Terra didn't waste any time and went full throttle to get away from the ship as soon as possible putting as much distance from the smugglers ship and hers as quickly as possible. Within seconds of them leaving a bright light consumed the ship and every xenomorph with it. When the light faded nothing remained but some scattered debris.

Max left the loading bay and walked into a passageway the was light up leaving next to no shadows to be in. 'Damn there's nowhere to sleep.' Damocles said felling Max's irritation about it.

"Well let's find somewhere to get comfortable at least." Max concluded walking down the passageway still as a xenomorph with his runner behind him.

They turned a corner and a scream that made Max fall to his knees and dig his claws in the side of his head came from the little girl. "Terra one made it on board, help."

Within seconds Terra came running in with blades out ready to spill some blood but stopped as she saw it being Max.

"I take it she can see now." Max said slowly loosening his grip on his own head.

"Yes. Come let show you where you'll be staying." With that Terra picked up the little girl holding her close whispering calming words. Every now and then the girl looked over at Max and his runner giving him a clear view of her mask much like Terra's but looked like a human skull.

After a few turns the going down a staircase or two they were entering a dimly lighted area. Stopped my in front of a door Max stepped inside once it opened seeing the metal slab used as a bed and the walls in the darkness.

"I'm sorry but I'm afraid I don't have much else to give you in terms of sleep and comfort." Terra setting the girl down, eyeing the runner as it investigated the girl and cautiously her.

In a few moments the girl was giggling as the runner almost completely lost its fierce look and took on one of a happy pup.

"This will be fine. Thank you. Here I still have some food from when I left my home your welcome to it." Max said digging in his bag removing bundles of food. Terra gladly took them and motioned for Sinthia to follow her.

"Do you remember the way out of here?" Terra asked looking over her shoulder.

"I'm sure I'll manage." Max said closing the door and setting his bag down next to the bed wanting to just sleep.

'I think she was inviting us for the meal. We should go so we don't seem rude.' Damocles said trying to get Max interactive with other things besides his weapons.

The runner went to Max throwing one of its heads at his hand to get his attention then ran to the door when it was certain that he had it. Letting out a whine the runner did this two or three times then added a light scratch on the door.

"Fine, fine, I'll go to the meal and let the pest out." Max said opening the door and watched the runner quickly headed back the way they came from.

Max followed the runner and quickly caught up with it due to it catching up with Terra and Sinthia. "Your hound shouldn't sneak up on me like that it will get gutted one of these days." Terra said a tone of almost fear was heard soon smelt.

"I'll try my best to control her." Max replied enjoying the sound of laughter after the same gunshot and mental scream repeat in his head for two weeks, but it was short lived when the faces and screams of the colony that I killed came snuffing out my happiness.

"You're haunted by what you did for those you loved." Terra said quietly coming up to Max resting a talon hand on my shoulder.

"How can you tell." Max asked the screams quieted down a little bit from her touch.

"Your face may not have much to go off of but your desire to help those less fortunate does and I know the way ones heart is when they loose someone dear to them." She stopped there and kept moving towards the dining area at the heart of the ship.

After laying out the food Terra went about the job of getting the long table set up for them, the table could place easily twenty men leaving not much room to move. But seeing how empty it was caused Max to wonder what had happened. Sinthia sat on the floor still giggling as the runner batted its heads against hers lovingly.

"It's about time to eat go wash up." Terra said removing her mask and gently placed it on the table with a dull thud.

Max and Terra stood in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments. "Where are you headed?" Max asked breaking the ice. The

"Away from my clan. We've been on the run for months now, always trying to stay on step ahead of them. You?" She asked her eyes seemed to go right into his very depths of his soul bring all memories into the light both good and bad.

"Try to get at the man who hired others to kill my beloved. I'm headed to earth." Max said feeling his anger start to come out fueled by the sound and mental picture of Sîrnish's corpse in the snow.

Terra continued to take off her weapons and unneeded armor as walked up to Max. "This pain you're feeling only lasts for so long until then you are more than welcomed here."

Sinthia returned with a skip in her step that only youth could bring. She jumped in a chair and waited patiently for the others. When Max and Terra sat down Max started to unwrap some of the food. Sinthia gasped in delight as she saw food she recognized from fruits of earth to meats of the colonized planet they had just left.

After they had their fill of the meal Max started to rewrap the food and pick up the plates and other utensils they used.

'You should probably change into a human its been almost half a day since you've been yourself.' Damocles warned and went back to silence.

"So Terra tells me that your a changer." Sinthia said excitedly.

"A what?"

"A changer. Your able to turn into a human right." The child persisted.

"Yes. I guess I am a changer." Max answered

"How'd a do it. Like how did you become one. How do you-"

"Alright little one it's time for bed. Go on." Terra shooed the girl off before she could ask anymore questions. "I apologize for her pestering."

'Don't worry about it. I would rather answer her questions.' Damocles said causing Terra to look around for the source of the voice. 'Forgive me Terra I'm the other half of Max his xenomorph side. I'm the reason he can change in between our two species.' She fixed her gaze on Max the tension loosened slightly but was still visible.

"I take my leave and will see you tomorrow." Max said quickly turning and walked back to his room.

Upon entering his room Max stretched and turned back into a human. He walked towards the metal slab and looked at his bag.

'Well I think that went well.' Damocles said rather cheerfully.

"She heard you. How could she have heard you." Max said almost as a growl.

'Our personalities are getting mixed.' Damocles said worried about it.

"Humans change after a loss as close as the one we went through." Max said setting the bag down and rolling onto the cold metal that's when he remembered that he was stark naked. And quickly jumped off of the bed. "Damn that's cold."

End of chapter III


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter IV

"Max." A woman's voice called out to Max in his slumber.

'Was it all a nightmare? Had I dreamt it all. The slaughter? The screams? The bloodshed?' Max thought hopefully then his mind went through the scenes repeatedly the looks of the men, women and children he had slaughtered due to one shot.

"Max it's time to get up." Max heard the voice again and a hand on his shoulder.

Max shot straight up in a sitting position breathing heavily he looked down and saw Sinthia looking at him with fear in the air. "It's time to eat." She said.

Max went to rub his eyes but found himself a xenomorph his last set of clothes shredded and now looked like rags. "How long have I been out?" Max asked ripping the shreds off.

"Two days." Sinthia answered her heartbeat gave away what her voice refused to. "I was getting worried so I came down here and saw you shacking and mumbling about a Searnîsh."

"Thank you. I'm sorry if I startled you." Max said swinging his feet to the ground till his claws clicked on the floor with a groan. He started looking around for the runner. "Where's the little one."

"Oh out here." Sinthia said before whistling only to be responded by a rapid set of clawed footsteps.

The runner came in tails going all over the place much like a dog's does. Max stood up and stretched feeling his back crack and pop all the way down to his tail. His stomach growled its annoyance from lack of food. The trio left the room and headed towards the dining area. Terra had just finished setting the table for two when she looked up and saw Sinthia with both xenomorphs in tow.

"I thought I told you to let him sleep he'd get up when he was ready." Terra said sternly but then did her best to smile with mandibles but her eyes showed her kindness she was poorly showing facially.

"I needed to get up anyways." Max said his stomach growled again.

'I've only been trying to get you up for the last day now.' Damocles chimed in.

Terra shivered a little not use to the voice in her head.

Max laughed easing the mood despite his laughter being a menacing broken hiss. Max helped Terra bring out the last of the items needed for the meal before sitting down. After their quiet meal Max helped clean the table sat back down at the table.

"Is there anything else you want?" Terra asked sounding a little annoyed.

"No just getting used to talking to someone outside of my head. Why do you ask?"

"In my culture if anyone still remains at the table after the meal it's the female's job to tend to their needs."

"A conversation would be nice." Max said his tail slowly sweeping behind him lightly tapping the metal floor of the ship.

Terra sat across the table from him her eyes glowed with happiness as she was now able to not be a servant, the males of her culture would not have been so kind as to talk with her even after many successful xenomorph hunts. "What do you want to talk about."

"Why you're running from your clan for one." Max simply stated placing his hands on the table trying to assume a relaxed and nonaggressive posture.

"On one condition you tell me why you left your queen." Terra said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Fair enough I'll go first it's short." Max said before gently setting his tail down of the floor. "It started when the Queen caused one of the harvesters to fall off of me stopping the proper forming of the embryo and having it sort of "melt" and be part of my body."

'That's where I come in.' Damocles said rather happily finally able to have his presence explained.

"Anyways." Max said over his shoulder like he was speaking to a ghost. "The Queen put me the care of one of her handmaidens to watch over me and bring me into their way of life. After a few months we became a mated couple and were expecting our first child but that all ended when we were scouting a colony and she was killed as we fled." Max stopped there feeling his sadness and anger grow and was happy he had no way on crying in this form. "Those that killed her went to claim her dead body but they only came to their own deaths. I was so full of anger I slaughtered the whole colony. By the time I came back to the Queen I was stained red from all of those I had killed. I left so that won't happen again." As Max finished his story the screams came flooding to the front of his mind the taste of so many people brought his mouth to the brink of flooding with drool.

Terra sat there quietly listening and taking in every word trying to understand his sorrow and compare it to hers. It couldn't be done. "So why are you going to earth if you want to be away from everything."

"To go after the one who had those men there to capture and kill any from my family. He took everything from us." Max said stabbing the tip of his tail in the table embedding it an inch. The wicked snarl left his face and became calm once more. "But enough about me and my reasons what's yours."

Terra took a deep breath before starting her tale. "I had started as a low slave orphaned and left to die on the streets like many of our females thought to be too weak to live." Terra fell silent for awhile allowing all of the memories she'd buried and hid. "One day I was caught stealing from a warlord and he was impressed with my skills to sneak pass him a seasoned warrior and almost get away with one of his most prized trophies. Years later he'd raised me like a daughter and took me hunting some nightskins, that's where I met Sinthia she was huddled in a corner of a room her parents had blocked to protect her. When we had gotten there she was close to death fear stained her eyes. She'd tried to fight us off." Terra laughed by clicking her mandibles together in rhythm with her convulsions of voiceless laughter. "After begging the warlord to let us take her he agreed as long she wouldn't get in the way of our hunt goal. Capturing a live queen. We got out prize and headed back home, as we left a rival clan attacked us their attacks disabled our power and left us adrift and our prize free. We both got ready to fight off both the rival clan and the queen, we killed the queen with no problems but when it came to the clan we knew we were out gunned and out numbered." Max sat quietly his tail removed from the table and slowly continued swinging back and forth. "When they finally came Sinthia came running to us and they started shooting at her just toying with her, but one plasma shot got too close and the sparks and slag blinded her. After that I don't remember much till I came too blades and hands covered in blood and myself was bleeding. The warlord took both of us to the med bay. When we finally got back home the elders of our clan wanted to use Sinthia as a harvester to make another queen, I argued and threatened them resulting in the warlord to loose his status and me to be banished. And we've been on the run since." When Terra finished she felt what seemed to be a hive of nightskins being lifted off of her. They sat in silence staring at each other.

"If you two keep looking at each other like that you'll fall in love." Sinthia joked as both adults aliens looked at her both with shocked and embarrassed looks. Max looked at Terra with a devilish grin on his xenomorph face and shot his tail at the girl who shrieked out of terror but then giggled as the tail lowly wrapped around her waist lifting her up and bringing her to him.

"And would you except us as something to live with." Max kept the joker alive by resting his head in his hands and stared intently at Terra who looked as embarrassed as a child having their first kiss. "Would you be able to call me Daddy and Terra Mother?"

"No." Sinthia said having a hard time keeping a straight face. "I'll call you Max and her Terra."

Max over exaggerated a disappointed huff before loosening his tail a little bit to cause her to slip giggling as he caught her. "Well that's good enough for me. What do you think Terra?" Max asked seeing the lost look on her face caused him to start hissing out his laughter. "Hey guest and adopted daughter to Terra. Come in Terra." Max said waving his hand in front of Terra's face.

"I think we said something she didn't know she knew." Sinthia whispered next to Max's head.

"You know what?" Max whispered back.

"What."

"I think so too. But don't worry Damocles likes her too."

"Who's Damocles?"

'Oh now you want me to talk to other people.' Damocles said 'Well I guess that's alright considering you brought into the conversation. Hello young one.'

Just as Sinthia and Max started laughing the ship was hit and the power started to go off leaving them in darkness.

"Terra take Sinthia and hide." Max said getting to his feet and started to leave then turned to the runner. "Keep an eye on them don't let anything happen to them. I'll be back." The adrenaline pumped through his veins bringing out the monster in him as he sensed multiple Hunters boarding the ship.

"Time to come out and play." Max said before his vision went dark and Damocles's temperament became viscous. Max dropped to all fours and crept through the halls his claws clicked on the floor his tail quickly whipped around just stopping before it hit the wall. After a few turns he came across the first of the Hunters traps. The laser grid crisscrossed in front of him. The air became full of a familiar scent of decaying flesh and old blood, Max turned and saw as a Hunter deactivated its cloaking device and grabbed him and started towards the grid.

The Hunter clicked its mandibles with glee as it was about to finish the deed. Max hissed his own laughter before driving his tail through the Hunter's neck slicing through the jugular and watched as neon green blood spewed out. The Hunter let go of Max and held a hand to its neck and tried to get its cloaking device on but Max kicked him down and pinned him down shoving his hand in the now pulsating fountain of blood and listened to the Hunter start drowning in his own blood. Finally at the end of it all it gurgled signaling its death and it laid still.

Max got up and screeched letting the others know he was there and he had killed one of them. Max started digging through the Hunters pouches and found its cord used to hang its victims for skinning and quickly wrapped it around its feet and hoisted him up through a ventilation shaft leaving only his torso and up exposed its blood dripping on the metal floor made a dull sound.

'Is this the best they can do?' Damocles challenged as rapid footsteps came down both sides of the laser grid. 'Oh we should've kept the traps on but turned the lasers on I've always wanted to see Hunter pieces fly around.'

"Neither of us knows how to do that." Max said his voice dark and just as menacing as the creature his body was.

The footsteps stopped just below where Max was hiding and a three pronged laser aimed its way up the dangling corpse as the laser crept into the darkness Max let go of the wire and dropped with the corpse landing on the Hunter. Piercing its head with his tail before it could react splattering blood on the walls his head and his tail. Max stood up and noticed three more sets of lasers aimed right at him. Max ran to one of the laser origin and plunged his claws in the Hunters stomach turning him around just to get shot my his comrades. When they stopped shooting their hunting partner Max through the corpse at them knocking one down while the other sidestepped it. And engaged its blades snarling at Max its cloaking device turning off exposing a mask with scars melted into it and eye socket nonexistent. Multiple heads of all sizes were strung along its waste and across its chest. It took the dueling stance arms out and wide sidesteps in a circle. Max raised his head back surprised at how this Hunter treated him like an equal, just another spar for dominance. Max quickly followed and the two circled each other waiting for one to strike first.

'We should wrap his feet with our tail and slam his head in the wall.' Damocles said wanting this over and done with.

Max ignored him and rushed the Hunter with his claws poised to strike but his wrist was grabbed and Max was pulled close to the Hunter, Max swung his tail around his body and aimed for the Hunter's face but that was also caught and driven into his own flesh.

Max had forgotten how pain felt while Max was in a pain stupor Damocles took control of his body and forced against the Hunter's force and pulled the tail out of himself. Grabbing him by the wrists Damocles started crushing the Hunter's hands then head butted him to knock him off balance. Damocles rushed him and lifted him off the ground by the neck and was about to end it when a little girl cried out breaking through pain and brought Max back to his senses.

"Don't kill him Max she's the one who protected me along with Terra." Sinthia ran up to Max's leg and wrapped her arms around it still pleading to save the Hunter's life.

"If you wish it." Max said setting the Hunter down and slowly loosened his grip from her throat.

'Ohh another female for us to have some much needed fun with.' Damocles maliciously said still running on his animalistic instincts.

Max hissed over his shoulder where Terra was standing plasma cannon ready. The sound of a Hunters blades came ringing through the air. "Touch me like that again and I'll take your head." The Hunter said in worse English than Terra.

"I like your tenacity but many a Hunter has tried to kill both of us and we always came out victorious." Max said turning into a human not caring about the fact that he was naked in front two women and a child. His many scars showing better that before showed everyone his life story as a xenomorph.

"The pale shadow is a near human. The slayer of gatherers, the unkillable. They are all human." The new Hunter cried out her anger showing but also her fear.

"Don't compare me to those murderous thieves. They kill pregnant creatures whether they meant them harm or not. And your kind is no better then them. Yes I was once human but then I found the one thing I've been missing for most of my life. I found a home where I was not looked down at. And that was taken away from me." Max was now toe to toe with the Hunter his scars on his skull were pulsing with his anger.

The Hunter backed down and retracted her blades, stood straight and started to remove her mask. Her mask was a perfect mirror of her face her right eye had no trace of it ever existing and the rest of her face was covered in scars from claws,blades, and what appeared to be burn marks from xenomorph blood no doubt. Her dreadlocks were dark green speckled with neon green as it got towards the tip.

Sinthia quickly closed the gap between her and the Hunter arms out and a broad smile on her face. "I've missed you Sarah." She said as the Hunter knelt down and picked up the girl lightly pinching her face with her mandibles.

"And I've missed you little Sinthia." Sarah said ending what could only be thought as kisses and looked at Terra.

"It's about time you got here." She said walking up to her and embracing both her and the human.

Max watched as the Hunters seemed to be rekindling some old feelings and started feeling like he was intruding. "I see you two have a lot to catch up on so I'll just be getting rid of the corpses then." Max went to leave but felt a scaly hand grasp his and pulled him back.

"Thank you for bringing us back together." Sarah said bringing him into the hug.

Max shivered when his naked body touched the metal armor and he realized that he was naked for the first time and started morphing back into a xenomorph. Terra and Sarah both laughed at his antics.

"You're most welcome, now if you excuse me the smell of blood is making me hungry again." With that Max started dragging the corpses out of sight to an airlock and discarded them into space.

That evening all four of them sat at the table enjoying food from Sarah's ship meats from distant planets and systems, fruits from their home world and a alcoholic drink derived from a mixture of the fruits fermented for at least a hundred years before it was bottled. The two hunters laughed over old times before when they would hunt just for fun.

"...and remember when I was taken into that hive and awaited to be used by those shadow walkers then you came in a cut them all before anything happened. I still enjoying playing the sounds and scene in my head over and over." Sarah said clicking her mandibles in what resembled laughter.

Max sat quietly trying to keep the mood in the room light and joyous but couldn't help the urge to try and wrong her neck for talking like that about the creatures that made him one of their own. After another round of cruel stories Max had enough and quickly stood up and left the Hunters to find some peace from the troubling visions that plagued his mind. After some walking around Max realized that he was not only lost on the ship but found where he was perfect for him. The area was dark and humid just like the Queen's chamber, the only difference besides the lack of dried resin was that there was a viewing window that showed the vastness and emptiness of space. Max stared out the window and just watched the stars twinkle like an acquaintance trying to lure him to them.

'So open. I wonder how many other hives there are.' Damocles said coming out from the back of Max's conciseness.

"Max?" A voice called from down the hall. Max could tell without turning that it was Terra probably here to apologize for her friends rudeness. "Max, look I know that what was said was painful for you to hear." Terra placed her hand on Max's shoulder her smooth gliding on his hard skeletal skin. "When you left she'd realized what she had said." Her hand was now resting on Max's cheek her mandibles lightly pinching and grazing over his skin in what he would have to assume to have been kisses. Max started feeling his heart quicken as memories and emotions rushed out giving him happiness, sadness and desire to be with someone once more.

'It's okay we can move on. We should move on.' Damocles said as Terra stood in front of them close to their chest placing a hand over their heart feeling their heart beat.

"Will you be mine?" Terra asked guiding Max into a room close to the window. As the door closed Max could see that it was a living space better suited for guests. Max's gaze was cut short as he was pushed rather roughly to the bed it's solid but comfortable cushion was very welcomed. Terra started to crawl on top of him her garments already cast aside revealing her body to him once more.

Terra's face now inches from his lowered till her mandibles lightly pinched Max's skin. Then a feeling he had all but forgotten about the feeling of pleasure coursed through his body sending his mind into darkness.

When he woke Terra was snuggling up to him her back to his chest and his tail overlapping them like a protective blanket. Max looked at her and felt once again happiness like before, and he was more willing than ever to never let it go.

End of Chapter IV


End file.
